Monday, April 11, 2011

Week-end

Hubby was competing in Tombstone this past week-end and asked me to come along. I knew it was to be cold on Sat. so planned on staying in the motel and not risk a relapse with the pneumonia but Fri. was cold with hard winds as well so spent most of that day in the room as well. Not really a problem as HBO was free and I had brought knitting and a book on tape:) We did go a day earlier so that we could stop at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrick Ranch that is located between Phoenix and Tucson and at the base of Picaho Peak Mountain.

I had never been up close and personal with a ostrich before and let me tell you they are very big (up to 9ft. tall and 350 lb.) and aggressive. They gave us cups of food for them but trying to feed them was like becoming a target. The goats on the other hand, could not be resisted.

Back to the ostrich

it is the only bird that does not fly but it can run at over 43 mph for up to 30 minutes. Their wing span is over 6 feet and are used for mating displays and to shade chicks. Their skin is used for leather, meat for food and feathers for those famous feather dusters that I just had to have

The most shocking thing to see up close was their feet!

Ugly and deadly

They have just two toes on each foot (most birds have four), with the nail on the larger, inner toe resembling a hoof. The outer toe has no nail. A kick by one of these can kill a lion.

The ostrich egg is 20 times the chicken egg and can weigh 3 lb. It requires 40 min to hard boil and amazingly, a female ostrich can determine her own eggs amongst others in a communal nest
We had only one cup of food to feed the deer, ostrich, and the goats and no one told us there were donkeys at the end...

They got the short end of the stick and this one was telling us all about it.
It was a fun time and they have a monster truck ride you can take...racing across the desert.
Our next stop was at the Casino Del Sol

This is the pretties casino I have ever been in. They do not allow you to take pictures so will have to use one from the web site...

It is like being in an Italian village with the buildings and sky. They have a restaurant called the Tequila Factory with a taco bar....mmmm that was lunch. If you have followed my blog you know that Hubby likes to gamble but not me so much...however....I have discovered the penny machines....I won $240.00 on a penny machine...can you believe it. For the first time I won and hubby lost so I bailed him out instead of him bailing me out...now that was fun!

Tombstone is a subject within itself ....you know the town too tough to die and the OK corral shoot-out and etc. We have been there many times and saloon girls strolling the streets is a common sight

but it was always a trick to get something decent to eat but this year was different...a new place has opened up called the Depot and the food was delicious. Of course it still had all the old west features like the deer head behind the bar and they had old railroad pictures and items to support their name.

There is a lot of history in Tombstone and a lot of windy tales as well. Along with the old bars and famous gun fight areas there is the oldest rose bush in the world. A restored home, the Rose Tree Inn Museum, is home to a rose bush that is over 100 years old and covers an 8,000 square foot arbor. The rose tree of Tombstone blooms during April of each year.

Mary Katherine Horony Cummings (November 7, 1850 – November 2, 1940), known as Big Nose Kate, was the long-time companion/common law wife of fabled gunfighter Doc Holliday in the American Old West

Big Nose Kate's saloon was originally a bordello that was suppose to have been run by Big Nose Kate herself. You may be surprised to know that Prostitution was legal in Tombstone back then, as long as the proper city license for the business of "House of Ill Fame" was purchased. Revenue collected from the sale of these licenses was, for many years, the sole source of financial support for Tombstone's schools. Although considered to be a profession of sin, large contributions helped to build area churches, and during times of illness a place of care.

Gotta love this one.......
A favorite thing to do is just walk the wooden boardwalk and look in all the shops but not this past week-end with the cold, rain and wind.

8 comments:

Sounds like a fun trip. I didn't know they had ostriches in Tombstone. Another use for ostrich eggs--my niece has a lighting fixture made from ostrich eggs with 1/4" cutouts for the light to come through. Very different--& beautiful.

A little bit for everyone. I have never been up and personal with an ostrich before and one look at that foot I think I will keep my distance but I sure love their feathers. I think the goats were so cute. Wouldn't you have to be known as Big Nose even if you did have one? Glad you are better.Not a bad amount to win from a penny. Peace